Burning Memory
by AlexMontgomery
Summary: What could have killed Ryan instead transports her to Hyrule, just as the Hero of Time awakens. Her only hope of returning home may be aiding Link in his quest. But the longer she remains in Hyrule the more she forgets. Will Ryan accomplish her goal before she forgets herself completely? Link/OC


**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. Or anything assosiated with the Zelda franchise.

* * *

"_Though this is not the end. My hate… never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again! Those like you… Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero… They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!"_

**Chapter One The First Steps**

_Rain beat against his skin, though was hardly a hindrance to the fire at the castle. The drawbridge in front of him lowered. A woman, and young girl on horseback came straight at him. He leaped out of the horse path. The girl called his name. She threw something in his direction, that landed in the moat around the town wall._

_He called her name, but the horse disappeared into the distance. He turned around, coming face-to-face with an intimidating, dark skinned man on a black horse. "You!" he hissed. _

"_Little kid," the man commanded. "You must have seen the white horse gallop past just now… which way did it go? Answer me!"_

_The boy pulled his small sword from is sheath, and his shield out in front of him. "You'll have to go through me first!" he shouted._

_The man chuckled. "So you think you can protect them from me," he said. "You've got guts kid. I like your attitude!"_

_The man held his hand out in front of him, straight at the boy. Purple energy formed into a ball in the palm of his hand. The energy quickly turned to yellow, and shot straight at the boy. He was thrown backwards, with a shout of surprise. A high pitched voice shouted his name. A winged ball of light blue light circled around the boy._

_Trembling the boy sat up. "Pathetic little fool!" the man gloated. "Do you realize who you're dealing with?!"_

_The boy glared up at him. Angry at the man in front of him, and at himself for being as weak as he was._

She stifled a yawn as the bell rang, finally releasing her from class. She carefully slid her pencil case into her bag. She tore out the doodle from her notebook and placed it into her shorts pocket. With that done, she dropped her notebook into her bag. She zipped it up, and swung the bag over her shoulder.

Ignoring her fellow freshmen was simple enough, so long as she didn't look at them. It worked for her in middle school, and it was working for her now. She traveled out of the building, into the central building, where most of the classrooms, and school offices were.

Mitzi, her older stepsister, stood waiting for her at the schools entrance. "Hey, Ryan," Mitzi greeted. "Have a good day?"

Ryan shrugged. "I would've," she began. There was a hint of boredom to her tone. "If it wasn't so typical."

Mitzi wrapped her arm around her stepsister's shoulder. "Well, nothing a little shopping can't solve."

Ryan smiled slightly. Mitzi was a senior in high school, with long black hair. Her skin already had a tan to it despite it being early spring. While Ryan did like her as a friend and stepsister, she was a little envious of Mitzi. Partially because Mitzi was rather well-endowed. Ryan, at the age of fifteen, hardly had a chest to fill a cute top with. Her skin was pale, her eyes were brown, and her hair was dishwater blonde. While Mitzi wore clothes that flattered her body, Ryan was a function over fashion person.

Mitzi drove them from the high school to a small clothing store a few miles away. "You needs some nice spring clothes," Mitzi said, searching the racks. "You have a nice figure, show it off, dang it!"

Ryan snorted at 'nice figure.' Her chest was underdeveloped, nor did she have any curves. The school year was almost over, and Ryan could have passed for someone in middle school. A nice figure, right. Flattery could only get a person so far.

'_But,' _Ryan thought. She tugged at the white shirt she wore under the black denim, short sleeved, jacket. _'Maybe she has a point.'_

There were several combinations Ryan liked that Mitzi chose for her. A nice skirt and top. A sleeveless top, an pair of Capri pants. Even a yellow sundress. Though, in the end, Ryan wasn't dead set on actually buying anything despite Mitzi's complements and reassurance that she should. "When's Martha and Ken expecting us home?" asked Ryan. She exited the dressing room, shifting her hair out of the back collar of her shirt.

"Not till supper," Mitzi said, looking through another clothing rack. "You know, you can call them mom and dad. It's been seven years since you were adopted."

Ryan rubbed her arm, embarrassed. It was true, it had been seven years since Mitzi's parents adopted her. Martha, was in an accident some time after Mitzi was born, and was unable to have any more children. Ken and Martha wanted two or three children. After talking about it amongst themselves, and family members, and remembering what a nightmare Mitzi was as an infant, they decided to adopt a child five or older.

At that point, Ryan had been in the orphanage for a couple of months. However, she had no memories prior to arriving at the orphanage. The caretakers there said that her parents died in a fire. And Ryan had to believe it. Not to say Ryan didn't love Martha, and Ken. It just felt weird calling them 'Mom and Dad.' She told herself it was because she referred to them by their real names for so long. Mom and Dad would have sounded so alien to her.

The young teen dug her hand into her shorts pocket, and pulled out the doodle she made in her study hall. The bit of paper was suddenly snatched from her hand. "What do we have here?" Mitzi asked. She wore a pink sundress, she decided to try on. However, she was about to find that pink wasn't her color.

"Hey," Ryan argued. "Give it back!"

Ignoring her sisters plea, Mitzi unfolded the paper. Her eyes lit up. "My, my," Mitzi beamed. She held the doodle out in front of Ryan. "Isn't this a handsome fellow."

The drawing was a bust of a male elf, or so Ryan and Mitzi assumed. His bangs framed his face, both ear's were pierced. He wore a long sock-like cap, and appeared to be wearing a tunic with an undershirt. Even thought he had a slight smirk on his face, his eyes carried a fiery determination. It was his eyes Ryan liked the most, but she wasn't about to admit it to Mitzi.

Ryan's face began to heat up. She cursed herself for taking the drawing out in the first place. How stupid was she? Ryan reached out for her drawing, only to have Mitzi hold it above her head. "Is this some character you created, or what?" Mitzi asked, suddenly interested.

"No," Ryan hissed, her face was still red. "I-I don't know who he is. It's gonna sound dumb…"

"What's gonna sound dumb? Ryan, come on. You can tell your big sis…"

The younger girl's face twisted. Should she tell Mitzi? Would she think she was crazy? Maybe not. No, Mitzi wouldn't think that. Not about her. "I've…" she began slowly. Her face was all the more redder. "I've been seeing this guy in my dreams lately."

This caught Mitzi's interest. "Really?"

"Yeah… Sometime's he a little kid, sometimes he's a young adult. It flip-flops between the two. But no matter what he's fighting _someone_, I can never remember what they look like."

Mitzi bit her lower lip. This seemed to be bothering Ryan. She placed her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Ryan," she began. "Dream's don't necessarily mean anything. You've been reading _'The Lord of the Rings' _lately, right? I'm sure this boy is just an influence. That's all."

Weakly, Ryan gave Mitzi a small smile. What she wasn't about to tell Mitzi was the _other_ dream she had lately. The one about the woman who seemed to be made of fire. She was always beckoning to Ryan, telling her that 'the time was coming.' The time for what? Ryan didn't know. Whenever she asked in her dream, the woman never answered.

Truth be told, her dreams were beginning to frighten her. Despite what Mitzi told her, these dreams meant _something_. But, Ryan was afraid they meant she was going mad. Still, Ryan kept them to herself. If anything happened outside her dreams, she would talk to Ken and Martha about it.

"You didn't have to buy those for me," Ryan said. She sat in the passengers seat of Mitzi's car.

They left the store with three bags of new clothes. One of them contained the clothes Ryan tried on and liked. Now, they were heading for home. "Don't worry about it," Mitzi grinned. "I came into a little extra money, so it's no problem. Now, let's get some tunes on."

With one hand on the wheel, Mitzi opened a CD case. She chose a disk, but dropped it on the floor before she could put it in the CD player. "Damn it," Mitzi muttered, reaching down for it.

"I'll get it," Ryan insisted.

"No, no. I almost got it."

With a 'tsk' Ryan bend down to get the disk. "Ryan," Mitzi said firmly. "I said _I'll_ get it."

"Fine!" Ryan snapped. She sat up, and looked forward. She inhaled sharply. Her pupils shrinking. "Mitzi!"

"Huh?" Mitzi looked up.

The car in front of them honked their horn furiously. But it was too late. The two vehicles collided.

* * *

The young Sheikah stood in the Temple of Time. He couldn't quite explain it, but he had a _feeling_ that today was finally the day. After seven years of waiting in the shadows, today, the Hero of Time would return. And with his return would come the end of the King of Evil's reign.

A sudden blue light in front of the Master Swords empty pedestal, took him by surprise. When the light died down, a girl with dark blonde hair laid, face down, on the floor. Curious, if not somewhat cautious, Sheik approached the girl. She was unmoving, but still breathing. Her clothes were a little… weird, he noticed. Sheik dropped to his knees, and turned the girl around, onto her back. He took in a sharp inhale. His pupils, or at least the visible one, constricted.

Composing himself, Sheik's eyes turned melancholic. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.

A pillar of blue light shot down, right at Pedestal of Time. Sheik leaped away from the girl, into the shadows. When the light died down, a young man in a green tunic stood, with a fairy hovering around him. The boy's blue eyes traveled around the temple. "Do you think seven years have really passed, Link?" asked the fairy.

The young man, Link, looked down at himself. His older, taller, stronger self. It was mind-boggling to think he fell asleep one moment as a young boy, only to wake up years later as a young man. "The evidence is hard to ignore, Navi," he replied.

"Link, look!" Navi exclaimed suddenly.

She flew over to the unconscious girl on the floor. Link followed close behind Navi. He got onto one knee, took the girl's upper body into his arms, and began to shake her. "Ma'am," he said, shaking the girl, though she refused to wake. She was breathing, so, thankfully, she wasn't dead. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

Link took in a sharp breath. Placing the girl down, he stood up with the Master Sword, and Hylian Shield in his hands. Standing at the Sword's resting place, was a boy, roughly the same age as Link was now. He had half his face covered, and his right eye was covered by his blonde bangs. "I have been waiting for you, Hero of Time," he said.

"Who are you?" Link demanded.

"I am Sheik," he introduced. "Survivor of the Sheikahs. As I see you holding the mythical Master Sword, you really do look like the Hero of Time. I assume you have already been instructed on what to do from here. If you believe the legend, you have no choice. You must find the five temples and awaken the five sages."

"I already know that," Link sighed. He glanced back at the girl. "Do you know who she is?"

"No," Sheik shook his head. "Clearly, she's not from around here. I've never seen clothes like that."

"That doesn't explain why she's here."

"That is anyone's guess," said Sheik. He placed a hand on his side. "Perhaps she was sent here by the Goddesses."

Link's brow arched in confusion. "If she was sent here by the Goddesses, what's the point of the Hero of Time then?"

"Perhaps you are right. But, you must admit, it's too much of a coincidence. She appears in the Temple of Time, just as the Hero of Time finally awakens."

Link sighed. If Sheik was to be trusted, he could be on to something. He glanced back at the girl. "If nothing else," he said finally. "I could help her find her way home."

"If you must," replied Sheik. "Know this, as equipped as you are, you cannot enter the Forest Temple. If you believe what I say, you should head to Kakariko Village, you should find what you need here. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," Link nodded. He placed his sword and shield, back in their place.

Without another word, Sheik threw a Deku Nut to the ground, disappearing in a flash of light. "Did you mean it, Link?" asked Navi. "Are we really going to help her get home?"

"I don't know," the boy shook his head. "If she can get to wherever she came from on her own, fine. If not… I just don't know what."

"Maybe Sheik has a point. What if she was sent by the Goddesses for whatever reason they have?"

"Even if she was, we can't force her into anything. It has to be her choice."

A low moan was heard. Link turned around to find the girl stirring. He smiled, slightly. Dropping to his knees he placed his hands on her shouldered, and helped her to sit up. "You had me worried there," he said. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

Ryan's vision was blurry. She blinked a couple of time's her to clear her vision. Turning her head slightly to the side, she came face-to-face with a boy, a couple of years older than herself. His hair was blond, and perfectly framing his face. Ryan froze.

It was the boy from her dreams.


End file.
